Richard has been an Oil Trader with BP for 16 years, covering many products from Crude, Gasoline components to Pet Chems. He has developed new business in many countries including Azerbaijan, Russian, Mozambique, Trinidad and conducted trade relations with many more. Usually he has also had a highly successful track record of discovering and implementing major new technologies in BP including turning a $30k skunk works initiative into a ground breaking trade flow analytics (ship tracking) platform still at the heart of the global commodity industry to this day. It won the BP Group innovation award and generated in excess of $50m within 3 months. He has also been a key participant and investor in a number of successful start-up ventures externally. He is also privately developing a solar project in Kenya lighting schools via smart reconditioning old car batteries. This is live on the ground by end March 2017. He has also developed an audacious, and currently confidential, new human flight platform that is due for global reveal in collaboration with Redbull in early 2017.
Inspired by the accelerating pace of technological change and the challenges faced by the Energy industry Richard launched an audacious new innovation model in BP Q4 2015. This focused on connecting up frontline staff with ideas / challenges, together with external start-ups. This chalking up significant success on the ground and significantly contributed to the Groups recognition urgent necessity for adaptation. In late 2016 Richard handover over his Trading book and is now full time at the centre of the BP Groups portfolio of Board sponsored step-out ‘Taskforces’ seeking to rapidly explore, collaborate, test, learn and re-imagine what the firms optimum role is in the 21st century.